How Monstrous!

How monstrous indeed? I'm not quoting Shakespeare*, I'm referring to the upcoming celebration of all things horror and beastly... Monsterpalooza.

Self described as the place to "celebrate the art of monsters and movie magic ...with over 250 vendors, a monster museum, special guests, makeup demos, presentations and more..." Monsterpalooza is a place I've been meaning to visit since I moved to LA. This year I'm excited to be there as a vendor! It's at the Pasadena Convention Center here in California on the weekend of 13-15th April. If you make it over there then you must stop by my table and say hi! Godzilla Aisle, Table 111.

Director Guillermo del Toro (who just won an Oscar as Best Director for The Shape of Water) referred to Monsterpalooza as "the monster convention I dreamt could be possible as a kid".
Others have described it as the "best horror convention of all".

Fun, right?! Plus Rick Baker and Elvira will be there, so what's not to love?

I'll be premiering my Hortense figurines at Monsterpalooza, and you can also see many of my witches and some spooky miniature set pieces on display there.

See you there!

*Who cannot want the thought how monstrous
It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain
To kill their gracious father? Damnèd fact!

- Macbeth, Shakespeare

Hey, Don't Go...!

Wait, up... don't go! ;)

Current politics mean that many of you are choosing to delete your Facebook accounts. I've actually lost 40 fans / followers of my Tall Tales Facebook page since the Cambridge Analytica story broke and #deletefacebook started trending.

But wait... you'll miss things!

What politics? What's going on? 

First of all, Tall Tales takes no political stance and is nonpartisan, but the issue at hand is that a data firm allegedly sold peoples' personal Facebook data to a political organization (story here) and so many Facebook users are now deleting their accounts in protest.

Why does this affect me and also you?!

I love to be able to keep you informed and share my news with you all (anyone interested in Tall Tales happenings) and Facebook has been a great way for me to connect with you.

So, I ask that if you're planning to delete your Facebook account then please be sure to sign up for Tall Tales news via the Newsletter! You can do it in a few clicks here, and then you won't miss stories, promotions and news. Another way to stay connected if you're leaving Facebook is to follow this blog or follow on Instagram.

So, what's the latest Tall Tales news?!

Oh, I'm so glad you asked! I recently finished sculpting Hortense based on the original prototype you liked (here) and she was sent off on her journey towards becoming a resin figurine so that you can all own her, and at an affordable price.

If you're interested in purchasing Hortense - the French witch, as a hand-painted 1:12 scale collectible figurine, then do sign up for the newsletter to be notified when she becomes available for pre-sales. Absolutely no obligation to buy if you sign up for the newsletter. :)

Any questions, please feel free to email me.

Here are some photos of her being made and the original prototype below. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Caroline

Tall Tales, Tall Tales Productions, CS McFarlane-Watts, Caroline McFarlane-Watts, figurine, maquette, sculpt, sculpting, figurine, collectible, collctable, good witches bad witches, laika, miniature maquette, miniature puppet, stop-motion puppet, stop-motion witch, animation, witch character, stan winston, jordu schell, gnomon workshop, aardman, mackinnon saunders, tim burton

Miniatures? That's 'ard, man.

It's already nearing the end of March, and I meant to write about the latest stop-motion offering from English geniuses Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham and Will Becher back in February! I am of course talking about the award-winning studio Aardman...

I was lucky enough to attend a pre-screening of 'Early Man' here in LA, and then a panel with the creators the very next day at the fantastic Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra. Like all their work, it's exceptional. Aardman is of course the creator of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Creature Comforts, so it's no surprise that this prehistoric comedy adventure has the same wonderful look, emotion and brilliant sense of humour. There's just so much to love about this film and I know that my readers of this blog and fans of Tall Tales on Facebook will go crazy for it.
Oh, and did I mention the Bronze Age city sets they built.... youch - so wonderful. I'll have to get this on DVD and do a lot of pausing and rewinding. What an art form. Aardman really are the masters of claymation.

Here are some photos I took of the miniature 1:6 scale (so they're twice the size of most of my work) puppets from the film which the creators brought along with them and showed us. One of them is cut open so that you can see the armature inside. Aren't they fantastic?! I love Ardman's distinct character design.

Do go and see the film, if you haven't already. (Trailer here, and very funny clip here), and until then I have one last recommendation to make; you ought to buy this book - 'The Art of Aardman'. You can get it from Gallery Nucleus or from Amazon here, among other places. It doesn't include their latest - Early Man, but it's still a goldmine of miniatures, puppets and exciting glimpses behind their curtain. I loved getting mine and if you already follow Tall Tales of instagram then you'll know I already flicked through it and raved about it here.

Will pop back with Tall Tales news soon...

That wasn't Cricket!

Anyone who has felt upset and responded without thinking it through will relate to this.

Yesterday I posted about a copyright infringement / defamation issue (here) and in less than 24 hours I removed the post. This person had damaged my business, done various things (I wont get back into it) and I had not responded in any way until I wrote the post. That was my response. I used their name.

I felt bad about it and I removed the post. This person and I have since reached an understanding and the case is resolved. 

When others threaten what I create (yes, it happens here and there) I handle it privately and it sucks up my time, my energy and it's awfully unpleasant but then it settles. This time was different and I responded differently - I exposed their name in public and despite removing the post I felt bad about it. None of you want to visit my blog hoping to see miniatures or sculptures or witches and get dragged into an unpleasant scene like that. I should have handled it quietly like I usually do, and I apologize to all of you and yes, to her as well.

As we say back in Blighty, it "wasn't cricket".

These broads have more apology to add. Click the images to enlarge and scroll through with your arrow keys.

Thank you, and goodnight all. I'll do better next time. :)

Design and Dishonesty

This post was a fairly detailed account of my interaction with another artist. I have deleted the entire post at their request, and I think that was the right thing to do.

The post had been about plagiarism. Since this artist and I have reached an agreement I've removed the entire account.

But, the end of the post is still available! See my business news below, and look out for more news in the near future.

A huge thank you to everyone who reached out to me when I first wrote the original post. I do appreciate you all.

---------------------------------------------------------

In other news....

Hello to everyone who skipped past the unpleasantness above! And hello and thank you to those who read it and are still with me! 

In my work news, I am busily working away night and day to create you a beautiful sculpted collectible of my first witch from 'Good Witches Bad Witches™'...! It's taking me a long time as I first created her in 1:9 scale and then realised the factory in China would charge so much for versions of her in this size that it wouldn't be worth it. So I started all over again and have made her in 1:12 scale! Just like my originals! You may have caught a glimpse of her on my official Tall Tales Instagram. She's very well made - I put ever so much time and care into her. She's actually better than the original. A bit more refined and with some lovely added details to the luggage trolley she pushes. 

She will be available for pre-sales in less than a month, and I will be at Monsterpalooza where you can sign up for a pre-sale then and there, and say hi to me in person!

Love and gratitude to you all. 

Caroline

xXx